62

CHAPTER SIXTY-TWO.
Jamal and Adele ended up spending the night together again. After hearing all that Jamal had to say, Adele couldn’t help but feel sorry for the guy for having such a selfish father. A father who would choose to put his son’s life and reputation on the line just to save his company.
Jamal went ahead to tell her how he had promised himself to take everything his father owned and he had succeeded in doing just that. Adele was proud of all that he had overcome.
Slowly she felt the hatred she had for him in her heart die down. His reason was, to some extent, valid.
Jamal left Adele’s apartment that morning and returned back to the mansion to freshen up and prepare for work. He was all smiles that morning as he walked into the living room at the mansion. The fact that he had explained to Adele the reason for his cruel behaviour made him feel like a heavy weight had been uplifted from his shoulders.
“Jamal.” A voice called from the staircase and he looked up, only to see his mother descending the stairs with an eternal frown masked on her face.
“Good morning, mother.” He greeted enthusiastically and his mother was taken aback. She had expected him to ignore her greeting and storm away, given what had happened between them the previous day.
Jamal stopped walking and watched his mother descend the staircase.
“And why are you so excited, if I may?”
“Nothing that concerns you, mother.” He told her, still smiling and she pursed her lips together. She wanted to know the reason why her son was so excited early in the morn…
Adele!
He was coming from Adele’s house. He spent the night at Adele’s house again.
“It’s Adele, isn’t it?” She asked calmly and the disappointment in her voice inevitable.
“Justly thought, rightly said, mother.”
“Jamal…” she called with a shaky voice as she rushed over to where he was standing. “Are you seriously going to send us out of this house just because of that girl? For crying out loud we are your parents! We brought you into this world, we gave you everything you needed to be successful, we made you the man you are today. You can’t just throw us out because of some woman!” Aliya commenced with her emotional blackmail, but Jamal, who was already used to her tricks, rolled his eyes hard and took a step back.
“I’m not denying the fact that you all raised me and I owe you enormous respect, Mother. I accept that and I have been paying you all back by working my ass off in that company since I turned eighteen, the only thing father ever did was cheat me. I don’t want to go into the details, but the heartless monster I am today was created by your husband because of the things he did to me. So yes, mother, if you can’t get along with my wife when I bring her back home, you’re gonna have to leave so she can be comfortable and that is final.” He firmly deciphered and Aliya switched to her next motive.
A one man display of agony.
She burst into tears and sat on the floor and Jamal looked down at her like she had lost her mind.
“That girl Jamal is tearing us apart, she is ruining our family, but you are too blind to see it. Jamal, open your eyes and see what’s going on. She is evil!” Aliya wailed, almost rolling on the ground and Jamal scoffed as he took a few steps closer to where she was sitting on the floor.
“Mother, are you seriously doing this right now?” He asked, looking down at her.
“And why wouldn’t I? Some girl is trying to tear my family apart, I’m not just going to sit down and do nothing!”
“Mother, you are trying so hard to vilify Adele in all this and it’s really shocking. Mother you have brought nothing but trouble to that girl since the day we got married! You have never said any nice words to her since the day she set foot in this house. Mother …” he called with a shaky voice. “Adele lost a child, your first grandchild, but you weren’t even decent enough to sympathize with her. You didn’t even sympathize with me, your son. You literally rejoiced about the fact that my wife, your daughter-in-law had a miscarriage and lost our child. God, mother! How evil can you be?”
“Jamal I’m not evil!”
“Give me one reason why I shouldn’t call you evil, mother. Tell this story to anyone else and see if they won’t bash you! You keep accusing my wife of trying to tear our family apart when you are, in fact, the one tearing this family apart with your heartlessness. Please mother, cut my wife some slack!” He said and left the living room.
“Jamal!” Aliya screamed at the top of her voice, but Jamal didn’t spare her a glance.
“Aliya!” A female voice sounded from the kitchen door and Aliya trembled on her spot as she turned to see who it was. It was Grandma Devon, her mother-in-law. She quickly rose to her feet and stood before her.
“Yes, mother.”
“Why are you so pathetic?” Grandma Devon asked and Aliya creased her brows.
“Ex… excuse me?” She asked in surprise.
“I believe you heard me right? Why were you seated on the floor? Why are you wailing like a woman who just lost her husband?”
“Mother, please talk to your grandson. He’s losing his mind. He intends to throw us out the moment he brings Adele home. That girl has bewitched him, Mother. Please help me save my son from that girl’s claws.” She dramatized the entire issue and Grandma Devon could help but laugh.
“Aliya…” she called as she struggled to calm herself. “You will never change. Once a drama queen, always a drama queen!”
“But mother…”
“Aliya.” Grandma cut her off “Give me one valid reason why you hate Adele so much. Give me one reason why you won’t let Jamal be with the woman he loves. Just one reason.”
“Mother, Adele has no past. She has no family. She is a freaking orphan who freeloaded on our money from when she was a child until now. What we gave her was enough, she can’t be my son’s wife and keep eating our family’s money, she doesn’t deserve such a privilege because she is nothing but a low life!”
“Aliya you are a very bitter soul and if I had known this is how you were, I would never have let my son marry you.”
“What?” Aliya asked, shocked.
“Do you think I liked you for Dominick?” Grandma asked and Aliya took a step back in shock. “You think I wanted my son to marry you? Or have you forgotten the fact that you used to be a lowlife as well? You were raised by very poor parents and you got into a prestigious university by scholarship and that’s where you met my son. The day he introduced you to me as his girlfriend, I did my background check and when I found out how wretched your family was, I wanted to tell him to break up with you, but the fact that you were very brilliant made me rethink my decision. I, however, told Dominick that I didn’t like you for him. We fought for a while over you and in the end he won. I chose to swallow my enormous pride and let him marry the woman of his dreams even though you were not up to his standards. Aliya, I’m guessing you are shocked hearing this from me right now because I have never treated you with disdain. The moment you were brought into this house, I promised myself that I was going to be good to you no matter how it was. It wasn’t because I liked you, it was because my son was in love with you, because he wanted to be with you and I respected that very much. That’s why I stepped back and didn’t do anything to tear you apart. But now, look at you. You are caught in a similar situation and you are handling it very poorly. Jamal isn’t five anymore, Aliya, he is Twenty-nine for goodness sake! You can’t make decisions for him!”
“But I know what’s best for him!”
“No you don’t! And shut up already. Stop being so stubborn. Stop being so selfish, this isn’t your life you mad woman!”
“Mother, don’t insult me.” Aliya warned.
“Else what?” Grandma Devon asked daringly and Aliya went mute. “Until the day you learn to mind your business and leave those children the hell alone, I will insult you. I am warning you Aliya, stop trying to ruin the children’s marriage elseI will personally throw you out of this house and make sure I ruin your own marriage with my son, Dominick. You are not the only one who can be an evil mother-in-law, I can be one as well and trust me, where your heartlessness and stubbornness ends, that’s where mine starts, so beware. Leave the children be!” She scolded at Aliya who shivered on her spot and retired back to the kitchen.
Tears spilled down from Aliya’s eyes like a waterfall as she shamefully began ascending the stairs.
She was shocked by all what Grandma Devon had just told her.